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Dark Souls Remastered just announced for Nintendo Switch to release at the end of May, in case anyone was interested in playing on the go.

My friend Delzethin is currently running a GoFundMe account to pay for some extended medical troubles he's had. He's had chronic issues and lifetime troubles that have really crippled his career opportunities, and he's trying to get enough funding to get back to a stable medical situation. If you like his content, please support his GoFundMe, or even just contribute to his Patreon.

He can really use a hand with this, and any support you can offer is appreciated.

I saw the announcement but I didn't look too closely. Is this purely a graphical upgrade (plus new platforms of course)? Or are they actually changing anything?

Mostly graphical, but the multiplayer will now allow up to six players. Invasions are going to get interesting... PS4 is also getting a trilogy box set. Funny right after I just picked up DS2 and 3, but if the multiplayer is locked behind the PS+ stuff like Bloodborne, then I'll be fine with my PS3 version of DS2.

In gaming news, I went to the Cathedral of Blue and was kind of surprised by whom I found there. He was surprisingly easier than he was in DS1 but not having his Hammer Bro likely helped. Took him down and got snubbed by the head of the Blue Knight Covenant.

Now I'm checking out the Forest of Giants, which feels more like the Undead Burg. Met Pate, who is just as much of a prick as the other guy with a name that starts with P in all of the other entries. Beat the Heide Knight and obtained his pretty cool sword which replaced me broadsword at the moment, and is making me reconsider letting this game do my Paladin Build. Met the Pursuer, who has way wonkier hit boxes with his swords than the Old DtagonSlayer and everything in Heide's Tower of Flame. I thought I was dodging most of his attacks because it looked the same as when I dodged it from the other guys but apparently I am wrong.

This does bring me to one gripe I have with the game, something I've heard people talk about but now seeing it in action, I can concur it's a real pain. There is no "weight" to hits in this game. I've taken hits I never noticed and I've hit opponents and had to quickly scan their lie bar to make sure it connected cause it just sometimes feels like we're all LARPing with invisible weapons. It's odd cause it seems to vary though, Halberd and bows have weight but some of the swords don't seem to. It's getting a bit annoying when I feel like I'm doing better than I thought only to learn I've lost most of my health to "chip damage". Also, while I'm griping, I don't appreciate the changes to Parry and Counters. Seems long-winded and over-visualized, and it's a pain trying to get the counter timing right.

I was able to get the key to the blacksmith and the mansion as well so yay for three Estus Flasks! I also have enough equip load to wear the better Knight Armor without fat rolling, so yay for Fashion Souls. I was also excited to find a Short Bow in the Blacksmith shop, so after purchasing some arrows, I'm feeling more complete since Bows have been a part of my builds since Demon's Souls. Course I'm going to need to throw some point sin Dex now and eventually find a Longbow I can bother to upgrade.

I'm digging the bigger emphasis on the horror of going Hollow in this game, to be frank, I never felt like Hollowing was such a big deal in DS1 from a story standpoint and saw it as a "Cursed with Awesome" kind of deal, but DSII is doing a better job really driving home why being a Hollow is a bad thing. The story is also interesting once I really decided that we're now deep into the "Age of Man" when the Age of Gods is so long past that people don't even remember the story of the First Flame, which gives the setting a more interesting flavor that I'm digging.

Despite some wonky mechanics and design choices here and there, I've been having a blast with the game so far. It probably helps that I have enough Souls Experience, that I'm actually making a decent pace in terms of progress. I'm certainly getting farther in areas and with bosses than I normally would.

I completed the Forest of Giants and went to the Bastille until the freaking terrible trio kept kicking my ass, not helped by the corridor leading up to them having like eight Royal Swordsmen with their bastard swords in small hallways. So I left and went to this one forest area but didn't get far due to a statue person. Went to the Wharf and completed that, only to wind right back into the Bastille, but with better stats and a few more upgrades to my shield, I was able to beat them with a summon. I also got invaded here and lucked out by having one of the blue knights in my covenant show up to do some damage to them, which made finishing them off not so hard.

Decided I didn't want to bother with the Sinner's Keep and decided to buy that ring to help reduce fall damage and plunge into the gaping hole in Majula. Beat the Rat Vanguard after a second attempt cause I wasn't paying attention to the petrification build up. Reached the Gutter, which wasn't quite as bad as Blight Town or the Valley of Defilement, up until I ran out of torches and found out they merged the most annoying part of Blighttown (the poison spitting smurfers) and the place you fight Nito in DS1 (it's pitch black and easy to fall to your death if you don't have a reliable light source) so the last part was a chore. The Black Gulch, as well as the devs who designed it, can go smurf themselves. I'll need to come up with a game plan on how to reach the Rotten without taking too much punishment in that hellhole.

Went to the Huntsman's Grounds and dealing with more poison than I would care for, especially after coming out of the Black Gulch. This place is interesting cause it reminds me a little of the swamp area from Xenoblade, but also has undertones of the freaking snake monster woods in Bloodborne as well. While trying to deal with a particularly annoying enemy in the area, I got invaded and promptly killed by a mage, who then proceeded to send me an email to tell me I'm a casual. Oh Dark Soul community, you had me at hello...

With all that said, I'm planning on taking a break for a bit tomorrow. Didn't get anything accomplished that I wanted to today cause I gamed too much, and I'm not really sure where to go from here.

With all that said, I may have to agree with KingK's review of DSII in that the game seems a bit more annoyingly difficult by means of the game really having a love of ambushes and swarming you with gank fights. It's like they're going out of their way in some places to be annoying about this. I've also decided that Adaptability is a symptom of this same issue. It's basically a stat designed to nerf the player for the game's sake and now the players have to make sure to throw a couple of more levels into it just so we can be on par with the early games in terms of healing and recovery, which frankly, were not exactly lightning quick in those games themselves, but it's a bit ridiculous to watch your character take their sweet time to chug some Sunny D.

To look at this on the other hand, I'm actually surprised how many powerful accessories I've already found. I have a regen rings for both health and stamina, one that restores health for enemies killed, and a few others I don't remember acquiring in either previous game until almost near the end and after looking them up on the Wiki. So it's not like the game isn't throwing you a bone here and well, but I'm kind of getting sick of getting run through the wringer in some of these places. I also want to find my Sun Covenant, cause I prefer Jolly Cooperation over PVP BS.

Didn't get as much as I had hoped. I learned that the Gutter had an item that could be used to restore one of the petrified people blocking my way. I convinced my self it was in this treasure chest on a ledge only accessible by getting to the bottom part of the stage and was getting nailed left and right due to the darkness, my lack of torch and the fact the enemies have some kind of elemental enhancement on their weapons that circumvented my shield's protection and took a chunk of my health. That treasure turned out to be a Big Club. So I went back to Majula to buy some supplies and only then discovered I already had the item in question in my inventory from my initial run of the area. Go figure.

I ended up restoring the girl who teaches pyromancy and decked her out in some Hollow Infantry garb. I reached the point of the Faded Woods where the fog takes over and decided that I didn't want to deal with it until I had more time. Went back to the Hunting Grounds and ran into that valley area where the Hollowed Huntman with Dark imbued whips and axes jump down to kill you. Beat them, reached the bridge and thought I heard a bow being prepared and while looking up with shield raised to see where the arrow was coming, managed to fall down the only freaking holy on the bridge. As it turns out, for the moment, the sound I heard was just the rope bridge itself. So I fought my back there to retrieve my souls and decided I had enough to get some more levels. So I went back to Majula to add some levels in my neglected Adaptability stat, bought more arrows and Human Effigies, and called it a night.

Since I began with a Knight Build, I have far lower Attunement than usual, so I haven't been able to purchase any magic yet, not that my Faith or Intellect stats are high enough to cast anything either, but I have enough of all of the items to cast spells that I'm debating on whether I should bother. I ended up using a bit of Pyromancy in DS1, but I've heard it was nerfed in this entry a bit due to how overpowered it was in that game. While I usually teach myself a little magic in these games, it's usually for situational reasons and not necessarily for the full benefits of a dedicated caster. Anyone here play casters?

I also found this video by VaatiVidya concerning the Remaster, as well as some speculation on the new FROM Software games Shadows Die Twice.

If you use a weapon you don't care about, or just watch the durability, you can make your way through the poison area and break most of the statues that cause you problems. But it hurts a weapon's durability pretty quickly. But you can get through about 75% of it before it becomes questionable to that weapon. The rest of it isn't too bad after that. And since it's so small, you can quickly learn the safe areas and not have to worry even as much

I don't know if you've found out on your own, but I think you had a question of dual-wielding earlier, and you should know that you need 150% of the stat requirements for each weapon to make good use of it. I think if you just meet the requirements, you just get to have a weapon in each hand, but if you meet half-again the requirements, you can do what's called a power stance. It's one of DS2's major claims to fame

And magic is what you make of it. It's handy for a warrior if you run out of arrows, you can still hit from a distance, but other than that, it's probably best used with a little more dedication. I've enjoyed my warrior mages in DS1 and 2, but I focused on magic, and infusing melee weapons with magic to use that bonus for the most part, instead of vice-versa

Also, I don't know how much pyromancy or sorcery got nerfed, but I watched cleric lightning magic get nerfed in the middle of a playthrough on youtube from a patch. But you don't sound interested in being a cleric anyway

Also Spuuky brought up a good point on the levels. I'm not sure if DS1 had a level cap, but you certainly feel like you're end-game levels are around 70-80

In DS2 it doesn't feel broken until well after 100, especially if you were to focus a lot on adaptability and attunement, it wouldn't feel broken until close to 150 from regular stat levels. My sorceress character is still pretty fragile at 120 because of this. But at least it feels fair, because I'm straight up a swifty glass cannon

After spending most of the evening getting my ass handed to me by the Undead Executioners and cherry tapping the Red Phantom guarding the gate, I fought the Executioner's Chariot, which is probably the most well known boss in the game and didn't disappoint. Largely cause it was a cool concept, more of a puzzle fight than the usual "strafe and poke" fights that make up the majority of the boss battles in this series and it really brought me back to Demon's Souls.

Confession time, I still think Demon's Souls had the best bosses in the series so far. While they are certainly the easiest as well, I liked the fact the bosses were pretty unique from each other and always had a bit of a puzzle aspect, which is something I don't get a whole lot of in the later entries which prefer more kinetic and straight up battles that test your skills and greed.

I also met Creighton, who has a score to settle with Pate, which is pretty interesting. So far most of the masters I've met are not interested in me due to my low magic stats, so I may throw a few points in so they will start talking to me.

While I could go back to the Huntmen's Copse and fight the actual boss, I may finally return to the Sinner's place and finally get one of the Old One's Souls that I've been neglecting. After that, I may tackle The Rotten one more time.

The theme of last night's gaming excursion was "Gank and Invasion". I took a break from the Huntsman's Copse and decided to go back to the Lost Bastille to deal with the only other plot relevant soul I can go after that doesn't involve Black Gulch. Though more specifically, I'm hunting Branches of Yore so I can get access to a few characters here and there. Instead, I found the Belfry Tower and the little Dwarf men, as well as a very persistent invader who was likely one of the Bell Guardian Covenant. I feel I may have inadvertently gained his ire, cause when he first popped up, he bowed to me and I tried to stumble through the gestures, only to accidentally pick the "I won't run" gesture that comes off a bit cocky. Guy used magic and had a heavy shield and halberd combo, but regardless, I did paltry damage to them regardless and got whooped about three different times.

This concluded with a rematch against the Bell Gargoyles, except they brought the extended family. Got my ass kicked the first time but took them down the second once I focused on eliminating them one at a time.

With the Bastille Key, I decided to explore the area again to open up the paths I couldn't find, and again I was consistently hounded by an invader with a Miracle/Hex build. I could actually do damage to him, but he could also use healing spells and had this annoying habit of always popping up before I could eliminate all the enemies in the area so I kept getting ganked by him chasing me into enemy filled areas.

While there are certainly more bonfires in this game than the previous one, I've also noticed that several of them also have enemies parked right next to them, the one in the Lost Sinner's area being a rather obnoxious one as it's next to three archers and teleporting in always begins with me hearing them arm their Heavy Crossbows. I went down to the bottom area where the obnoxiously strong lion men monsters are waiting in the heavy water, and despite summoning that cool swordwoman character from Mirrah, she apparently doesn't have any Estus and never bothered to heal after we got thumped by the lion monsters and cursed suicide zombies. This meant she didn't last too long against the Lost Sinner. The real annoying bit is that I nearly beat her on my first try but we traded last blows and she was a tad quicker than me.

I'm aware I can light up the room to make the fight easier, but I'm out of torches. They're an interesting mechanic, but I'm annoyed that torches are hard to come by, and apparently no one sells them, which makes the mechanic more annoying than fun sadly. I'll try to beat her tonight since it was getting late when I finally reached her. I like the shout out to DS1 and the hint she's the reincarnated Witch of Izalith due to the "bug" that crawls into her mask being the same type you slay in the Bed of Chaos fight.

I never came even remotely close to running out of torches. I had like ... three hours of torch time left at the end of the game. And I light every single torch stand in the Pit, of which there are ... many. We must play different in that regard. I'm pretty sure they can also drop from any enemy that carries a torch themselves although that's not super-common?

I've gotten a few from enemy drops but farming them isn't something I really want to do since that's what eventually got me to finish DS1 and is likely my main gripe against Bloodborne is farming items is a chore in these games.

Part of my issue was not noticing the time until I had already burnt through a bunch of torches already and I wouldn't be surprised if I tackled the Pit way earlier than most do, so several deaths and bad item management is likely why I'm torch-less at the moment. I just think it's silly that something so plain and common is restricted to treasure and rare drops, whereas the lockstone keys, Human Effigys, and healing items are not. Hell, I wish I could find a merchant that sells a decent bow.

It's not like I need the torch to beat this fight or anything, I managed to nearly beat her my first try without it, it's just an interesting novelty that would be cool to do, but it's not important.

I'm a melee man, so I need to be close to her anyway. The real hard part was just losing track of her when she ran away or when she goes all Dragoon on you. After a few attempts, I finally took her down, I even helped another player take her down as well. I used the Branch of Yore to unstone Straid, and was finally able to unload most of my Boss Souls for weapons and spells I'll likely never use, with the exception of the Dragonrider Bow and possibly the Warped Blade once I get my DEX high enough to use it. I'm not far from being able to use the Pursuer's Ultra Greatsword, but not quite sure if I really want to incorporate it. I tend to favor more speedy builds and I wouldn't be surprised if the weight alone will be an issue. Of anything, I'm having a bit of a Demon's Souls moment and tending to prefer my basic weapons over the more fancy shmancy ones. I should probably check to see if I can utilize a power stance with any of my current weapons.

This does bring me to the issue I have right now which is the sheer lack of reliable sources of Titanite. I kind of feel that a good part of my problem with the Lost Sinner and the Rotten may be that my gear is at a bit of a standstill cause basic Titanite is not as easy to come by in the areas I've explored so far. I have enough specialty items to upgrade the boss weapons, and I even have a decent amount of third tier upgrade materials, but no sources of basic and Large Titanite. While I'm on the subject, I wish I could find an easily accessible merchant who sells higher tier arrows, cause the Wood arrows are just not cutting it anymore.

With Lost Sinner down, I'm either going to attempt the Rotten again, or finish Huntsman's Copse and fight the Skeleton Lords. I did explore that Foggy Woods, which is certainly unnerving, but was more terrified by these Lion Head Warriors in the next section which just wrecked me if I let my guard down for a moment. On the brightside, I found an upgrade to my Stamina Regen ring which was supper nice. Is the Stamina Regen shield in this game as well, or did they finally come to their senses and drop it from the game?